Sherrod glad to be home, will meet with Spooners soon

By Marcus K. Garner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ALBANY -- An exhausted Shirley Sherrod, the former USDA rural-development director for Georgia, returned home Thursday night after a whirlwind media tour following her errant dismissal and subsequent vindication.

"I have gone from a very low period to a very high period," Sherrod said as she got off the flight at Southwest Georgia Regional Airport.

She had completed media visits from Atlanta to New York, talking about the video that only two days ago led Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to demand her resignation, followed by apologies from him, the national NAACP and even President Barack Obama.

"I really don't want and don't expect the president to apologize to me," she said. "The people that needed to apologize to me have."

In what was edited to come off as an admission of unapologetic racism, a video released Monday captured Sherrod saying she didn't "give the full force" of her ability to help the Spooner family 24 years ago when they faced foreclosure of their southwest Georgia farm.

The released video was a three-minute snippet, however, of a 40-minute speech Sherrod gave in March at an NAACP banquet.

Vilsack forced her to resign late Monday night for what was seen on the earlier version of the speech, released by blogger Andrew Breitbart on his website biggovernment.com.

A modest crowd gathered as she exited the runway to get a glimpse of her and wish her well.

"I'm very proud because she is a black female who stood her ground," said Trudy Cross, who owns the airport eatery with her husband, Ricky, and gave Sherrod a lengthy hug after shooting pictures of her husband with the newly minted celebrity.

Ricky Cross, for his part, offered freebies.

"Come back and you can have a meal on us," he told Sherrod.

Sherrod said she was happy to be home and very tired after shooting several spots for an upcoming CNN documentary, then appearing on multiple news programs from "Good Morning America" to "The View."

She was quick to note, however, that she would not talk to any Fox News shows because Fox ran the edited footage without authenticating it with her.

"I will not give Fox an interview because of what they did," she said. "They could've called me and checked it out with me, but they didn't."

Sherrod did acknowledge that The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was the first media outlet, followed closely by CNN, to talk to her and get the story correct.

Vilsack, with his apology, offered her a new, more expansive role with the agriculture department, should she return.

Sherrod said she is still undecided.

"I don't know about working within the agency," she said. "I have so many options.

She said she will be reunited with the white farming couple that helped her reach a turning point in race relations in her career.

Eloise Spooner told the Journal-Constitution early Thursday that she and her husband, Roger, would talk with Sherrod over the weekend to schedule a time to get together.

"I'm looking forward to seeing her again," Spooner said.

In a conversation she had with family and friends Thursday via telephone from New York, Sherrod said because of her and the Spooners' schedules for the weekend, she would likely speak with them Sunday.

She made the call to the Albany field office she once led, just after Obama called her and apologized for her erroneous dismissal.

About the talk with the president, she said she had a "good conversation."

She spoke of the conversation over a speaker phone to a group having a meeting, as an AJC reporter listened in.

Sherrod didn't give details of the conversation other than to mention that she invited Obama to visit farmers in southwest Georgia.

"But he's got to bring Michelle [Obama]," she said.

Return to ajc.com for more updates.